Meeting the Past
by MissKaylee
Summary: Have you ever wondered what became of young Charles from the Full House episode Silence is Not Golden? Well, I did. This is my take on what would happen if Charles and Stephanie ran into each other (literally) after all of these years. Rated T due to the sensitive nature of Charles' past abuse.
1. Chapter 1

_Ever wonder what became of young Charles from the Full House episode Silence Is Not Golden? I did. This is my take on what would happen if he and Stephanie ran into each other after all these years. Here is chapter 1 out of three. Let me know what you think._

 _All rights go to the creators of Full House and Fuller House._

* * *

 _ **Chapter One**_

Shopping for a household of seven, plus a dog, is no easy task. Stephanie Judith Tanner was beginning to learn this. With Tommy in the toddler seat on the shopping cart, Stephanie looked down at her list to see if she forgot anything.

"Hey?" Someone called out in front of her. "Hey! Watch it!"

Suddenly Stephanie's cart ran into someone else's. Slightly shocked Stephanie first made sure that little Tommy was okay then placing him on her hip she walked toward the front of the cart. "Oh my god, are you okay?" Stephanie exclaimed.

The user of the opposite cart laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The man gestured to Tommy. "Is he?"

Stephanie placed a kiss on Tommy's forehead. "Yeah, he's okay."

Turning toward the man in front of her she got her first good look at him. He was tall, well not as tall as her father, but still tall. His hair was dark brown locks, and his brown eyes seemed reminded her of the brownies DJ made last weekend. He was somewhat lanky, but still seemed to have a few muscles to him. From all of her time overseas, Stephanie had to guess that he was probably part Italian. He had that olive skinned and dark haired look about him.

"Hi," Stephanie suddenly said to him.

He smiled at her. "Hi, it's good to see you Stephanie."

Stephanie suddenly felt very confused. She didn't give him her name. Although the way he said that implied that they had met before. She studied his face. A part of him did look a little familiar. She just couldn't place her finger on where she knows him from.

This was going to annoy her for the rest of the day. Why did he look familiar? Where has she met him before? Those eyes. She has definitely seen those eyes before. But where?

He smiled at her confusion and reached inside his jacket pocket. Pulling out a pen and a crumbled receipt, he first flattened out the receipt then wrote something on the back.

"Here," he said holding the receipt out to her. Taking it into her hand Stephanie realized that he had wrote his phone number on the back, but didn't put a name. "When you figure out who I am, how about you give me a call? We can meet and catch up."

Before Stephanie could say anything, he walked back to the front of his cart and pulled it away from hers. "Oh, by the way, when was the last time you watched Home Alone or Roger Rabbit?"

Stephanie sent him another confused glance.

Laughing again, he said, "See ya, Tanner."

Walking to the front of her cart, Stephanie placed Tommy back in his seat and looked down at the receipt in her hand. That guy was cute, but so confusing.

Why would he ask her if she had seen Home Alone or Roger Rabbit lately? She hadn't watched Home Alone since she bought herself the four movie pack for Christmas, and she doesn't even own Roger Rabbit anymore.

Sighing, she placed the receipt in her wallet and pushed the cart back toward the front of the isle. Maybe it'll come to her during the drive home.

* * *

It didn't come back to her during the drive home. Stephanie was now officially annoyed. Usually she is excelled at remembering names and faces, but this for some reason was different.

While holding Tommy with one arm, she somehow managed to carry the rest of the plastic bags on her other arm. Walking into the kitchen she found Jackson, Max, and Ramona all eating sandwiches at the table while Kimmie and DJ cleaned up the counter.

"Oh yes, just ignore me it's not like I need any help," Stephanie commented as she struggled to close the door.

Laughing both DJ and Kimmie stepped forward. While DJ took Tommy, Kimmie helped carry half of Stephanie's bags to the kitchen counter.

"You know there is such thing as taking two trips," DJ reminded her sister.

Stephanie shrugged. "Who has the energy for that?" She said as she and Kimmie began to unpack the groceries.

"But you have the energy to carry a ton of groceries and a baby into the house all at once?" Jackson replied cheekily.

Stephanie placed her hand on her hip and sent him a challenging look. "Keep it up, buddy and next time I'll be dragging you with me and I'll force you to go pick out my womanly packages."

Ramona laughed at the look of horror on Jackson's face.

"On second thought, you do what you need to do," Jackson told his aunt before running out of the house.

"That's what I thought," the middle Tanner sister said to her eldest nephew.

DJ sent her a look. "Stephanie, I know the scare tactic works on some kids, but please do not scar my son for life."

"Oh please he thinks that's bad. Every month I had Fernando go buy me a gift basket of things I always needed. He would do it with honor. He was happy to take care of me," Kimmie spoke up.

"Yes, well we all know how that turned out," Stephanie remarked.

Putting the empty grocery bags away, Kimmie turned toward Stephanie, "Hey you forgot my foot fungus cream."

Stephanie sent Kimmie a grossed-out look. "I've told you before, Kimmie that I will never buy you your foot fungus cream. The last time I bought that the cute cashier didn't even give me his phone number."

"And on that note I'm going upstairs," Ramona said.

"Me too," Max followed her with Cosmo by his side. "Come on Cosmo."

"So did you get the phone number of the cashier then?" DJ asked her sister.

Stephanie shook her head. "No, I was too caught up about a very confusing guy."

"A confusing guy? That's my bread and butter," Kimmie urged.

Stephanie sighed, "So I was double checking my shopping list when the cart ran into another cart."

DJ's eyes widened as she looked over her youngest son.

"He's okay," her sister assured her. "Anyway, this guy-"

"Was he cute?" Kimmie interrupted.

"Very," Stephanie nodded. "But anyway before I could even introduce myself to him, he said, 'it's good to see you, Stephanie.'"

"So you've met him before?" DJ asked her younger sister.

"Apparently, but I don't remember," Stephanie told her. "It got even more confusing after that. He then said, 'when you remember, give me a call, we'll meet and catch up.' So I guess I'm supposed to figure out who the heck this guy is."

"Did he say anything else?" Kimmie asked her.

Nodding, Stephanie said, "He asked if I had seen Home Alone or Roger Rabbit lately. Then he said, 'See ya, Tanner.' He just walked off before I could even say anything."

"I don't know I've had much weird encounters in the super market," Kimmie commented.

"Somehow I don't doubt that," Stephanie remarked, "but this was weird for me. I'm usually great at remembering names and faces, but this one is different. Oh, why can't I remember?"

DJ chuckled at her sister's words. "This guy really got to you, didn't he?"

"I don't know why, but it just feels really important that I find out," Stephanie admitted to her.

Her sister sent Stephanie an encouraging smile. "Well keep the phone number close to you. I'm sure the answer will come soon."

With that Kimmie and DJ took Tommy upstairs, leaving Stephanie alone to ponder her strange encounter.

* * *

 _Truthfully I am not even sure how I got the idea for this story. A few weeks ago I just was looking up information about Full House in between binge-watching Fuller House and I came across some of the Stephanie episode from Full House. I was immediately interested because Stephanie had always been my favorite character growing up. If I am being honest I actually forgot about the Silence is Not Golden episode of full house. So I re-watched the main scene between Stephanie and Charles on YouTube and it got me thinking. What if Stephanie and Charles met again? Thus, Meeting the Past was born._

 _~Kaylee_


	2. Chapter 2

_Ever wonder what became of young Charles from the Full House episode Silence Is Not Golden? I did. This is my take on what would happen if he and Stephanie ran into each other after all these years. This is chapter 2 out of 3._

All rights go to the creators of Full House and Fuller House.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two**_

That night while lying in bed, Stephanie's subconscious seemed to be on a constant repeat of moments from her past.

The night of May 1987 when Danny woke up her and DJ telling them that there had been a car accident and that there mother would not be coming home. The day that Joey and Uncle Jesse moved into their house. The first day that Stephanie started kindergarten. When Uncle Jess and Aunt Becky got married and moved in. When Stephanie when on her first 'date.' Stephanie's first day of middle school. The peer pressure for her to smoke. Her friendship with Gia and Mickey. Also all of her boyfriends throughout middle school and high school. And, finally, the day that Uncle Jesse, Joey, and her father agreed that Danny no longer needed their help raising Stephanie and Michelle since DJ was in college.

That sad moving day, Danny told his two living-at-home daughters a very important piece of advice, "It's not a house that keeps us together as a family, it is the love we share. Sometimes relatives may be far away, but that does not mean that we love them any less."

Those words could not be any truer. Stephanie learned that while she lived in England. She loved to travel, but she had also been far away from both her friends and family, and at times it took everything to stop herself from buying a ticket and going home.

All of those memories circled her brain like a blender. All of her memories went into the mixer, then one came out and she was forced to relive it. One memory was especially painful.

 _Stephanie was sitting at the small homework table in her room with a former classmate of hers. They were in fifth grade, much too young to experience some of the things they already had._

 _As they sat there working on homework, Michelle soon came into the bedroom. She informed Stephanie that she had forgotten to take out the garbage and that their dad was mad._

 _"Well I guess you're really in for it now, huh?" the young classmate said to her._

 _Eleven-year-old Stephanie released a breath and said, "Yeah, that's twice this week. My dad's gonna flip out on me."_

 _Something seemed to change in the young boy's eyes, Stephanie noticed. Almost every day his brown eyes are hard and guarded as if they are hiding some big secret, but right now, in this moment, they are soft as if finally having someone to share the burden with._

 _"Well, you know what helps," he advised. "Try thinking of a funny movie like Home Alone or Roger Rabbit. That's what I always do when I'm getting it."_

 _Confused, Stephanie said, "Getting what?"_

 _"Well, you know, when your dad's pounding you?" he said._

 _"You mean hitting?" Stephanie asked in that moment. Hitting? He thought that her dad hit her?_

 _Her concern for him grew at his nod._

 _"My dad never hits me," she told him. A scary thought then sparked in her mind, "Does yours hit you?"_

 _The softness in his eyes seemed to harden at her words. It seemed like he was trying to hide himself again, or perhaps just his secret._

 _Stephanie could tell that he was suddenly very nervous. "No, just-just just forget it. Le-Let do the assignment," he forced out and flipped a page._

 _Looking down, she was tempted to move on, but a part of her just couldn't. "But you said you always think of a funny movie? Do you get hit a lot?"_

 _He raised his hand as if to hold her back. "Look I didn't mean anything by it, alright? Just forget it, okay? Let's just do the assignment."_

 _Her determination grew at his words. "Charles, you can trust me. I swear."_

 _His tone grew hard. "No, I don't care if you swear on your mother's life."_

 _Stephanie suddenly grew sad at his words. "My mother's not alive," she confessed to him._

 _Once again as if something changed inside of him the young boy's eyes softened at her words. "Oh, I'm sorry. Mine's not alive either."_

 _The eleven-year-old Tanner daughter knew in that moment that even though they may not share all of the same pain, they do have one source of pain in common. "I'm sorry," she told him honestly._

 _Silence grew between the two for a moment._

 _"Look," he suddenly spoke up, "the thing is my dad does hit me sometimes, but it's my own fault for ticking him off." The young boy released a small puff of breath. "But boy did he really clobber me last week."_

 _Stephanie remembered suddenly. Before today it was the only other time she had felt any concern for the boy in front of her. "You mean when you came to school with that black eye and you said you walked into a door?" she asked him._

 _In a small tone the boy replied, "Yeah, a door named dad."_

 _Her concern grew even more at his words. "Maybe you should tell somebody?" She suggested._

 _He suddenly grew very scared at her suggestion. "No. No! N-I I can't tell anyone. And neither can you." His eyes suddenly widened at a thought. "What time is it?"_

 _Confused by his sudden change of topic, Stephanie looked down at her light pink watch. "5:30," she informed him casually._

 _Horrified he seemed to remember something. "I forgot to phone my dad and tell him I was gonna be late. He's going to kill me! I gotta go. I gotta go!"_

 _Very scared at his words, Stephanie exclaimed, "But Charles!"_

 _He suddenly stopped and turned to her. "Steph, you gotta swear to me. You can't tell anyone as long as you live. Ever. You got it? Okay?"_

 _Despite her fear, Stephanie noticed the desperation in his eyes. "Okay. I swear."_

 _Seeming to relax, he then grabbed his stuff and ran from her bedroom. Looking after him as he ran from her room, Stephanie soon grew scared for the boy that she claimed to hate only a mere two hours ago._

As if awoken by the slam of a front door, Stephanie was suddenly jerked awake from her sleep. Still lying in her bed she climbed toward her nightstand where he purse lied. Pulling out her wallet, she reached inside and held the receipt in her hand.

Staring at the phone number, a single name was in the forefront of her mind, "Charles."

* * *

 _So, what do you think so far? I had to listen and follow the scene from YouTube exactly and I even double checked the epsiode's script online so I think I got all of the lines correct. Just from this story alone I am becoming a huge fan of the idea of Charles and Stephanie. Also, I can honestly say that a second story is in the works. Let me know what you think._

 _~Kaylee_


	3. Chapter 3

_Ever wonder what became of young Charles from the Full House episode Silence Is Not Golden? I did. This is my take on what would happen if he and Stephanie ran into each other after all these years. Here is chapter 3 out of 3._

 _All rights go to the creators of Full House and Fuller House._

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three**_

DJ Tanner-Fuller walked down the stairs from the second floor and into the kitchen to find her younger sister sitting at the island. Her head was in the palm of her left hand while her right hand was wrapped around a cup that now held cold coffee. Stephanie was staring at the tiles on the counter lost in thought.

"Steph," DJ spoke up, walking closer to her sister. "Stephanie, what's wrong?"

Stephanie sniffed and wiped her sleeve against her nose. "He's okay," she whispered.

"What?" DJ asked placing her arm around her shoulders.

Feeling as if a weight was lifted off of her shoulders, "he's okay." Standing up Stephanie wrapped her arms around her sister thankful that she was not alone in this moment.

Twenty minutes later, Stephanie had gotten DJ caught up about the story of her former-classmate, Charles. DJ kept her arm tight around her sister's shoulders as she told her everything. She found herself looking at her sister with a new form of respect. It had always seemed like Stephanie went through the worst of the problems as a teenager what with the joy rides with two idiotic teenage boys and the peer-pressure to smoke, and the make-out party.

But now this? Finding out that a classmate was abused only to never see him again so shortly after finding out was no easy task, especially with the guilt fallowing Stephanie for years.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" DJ asked her.

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I don't know. I guess after Jesse called child protective services, and Charles was taken away, I was just so worried. I was scared that something would happen to him while in foster care. I just-I felt guilty so for years I told myself to forget about the guilt and eventually I forgot about Charles all together." Stephanie laid her head on her sister's shoulder. "I also just didn't know how to tell you."

"Well, from what you told me about your encounter the other day, Charles seems okay. Maybe everything worked out for him," DJ told her.

"Maybe," Stephanie replied.

"You know there is one way to find out," DJ reminded her.

Smiling, Stephanie looked at her phone that sat on the counter. "I should call him."

Standing up DJ gave her sister a small kiss on the forehead before leaving her alone in the silence of the kitchen.

Stephanie released a nervous sigh before picking up her cell phone. After unlocking it she typed in the phone number that she had already memorized. Anxiously she brought the phone to her ear and waited with baited breath.

"Hello," A groggy voice picked up on the other end of the phone.

Looking over at the clock on the wall she noticed it was only 7:30am. Stephanie laid her head in her hand and said, "Oh, I am so sorry! Did I wake you? I did, didn't I? I'll just hang up now!"

"Tanner?" The tired voice called out over the phone. "Tanner, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Stephanie admitted. "Sorry I woke you, Charles."

A tired chuckle could be heard over the phone. "So you finally figured it out, did ya?"

Smiling, Stephanie said, "Yeah, I did. Sorry I didn't recognize you earlier."

"Chill, Tanner," Charles laughed. "We were eleven the last time we saw each other. I'm honestly surprised you figured it out at all."

"Hey," she feigned offense.

"Besides it's been twenty years we've both changed," he told her. "After all you had a baby on your hip."

"Oh, um, that was my nephew, Tommy," Stephanie told him.

"You know I didn't see a ring on your finger so it made me wonder, but now-a-days it's hard to tell," he said.

"Yeah, it is definitely hard to tell," Stephanie agreed. "Hey, so how about I let you get some more sleep and we meet up for coffee, say about 10 o'clock at the Java Club?"

"It's a date." Stephanie's smile widened slightly. "See ya there, Tanner."

Hanging up the phone, Stephanie placed it against her chin in wonder. Who would have thought that she would be so happy to hear the voice of the kid she used to hate with so much passion? _Well_ , she thought to herself. _You know what they say. There is a think line between love and hate._

Relieved at the way the phone call ended, Stephanie placed her coffee cup in the sink, picked up her phone, and made her way down to her basement bedroom. Maybe she can get another half hour of sleep before she needs to start getting ready.

* * *

Stephanie walked into the Java Club and immediately noticed that it was far less busy then she expected. There were a few college students working on homework, including a few high school students, most likely skipping school, but most teenagers were in school right now while most adults were working.

Happy about the fewer people she claimed the two plush chairs that sat near the window of the coffee shop. Sitting down she waited for Charles. Growing nervous about seeing him again, Stephanie looked down at her outfit: dark, ripped, skinny-jeans, a blue flannel quarter-sleeve shirt, with ankle boots. Her hair was down in its usual curls.

To pass the time, Stephanie used her phone to log onto Facebook and see what her friends and family were up to.

 _Rebecca Donaldson updated her cover photo._

 _Joey Gladstone invited you to CandyCrush._

 _Gia Mahan poked you._

 _Alex Katsopolis updated his status._

 _Nicky Katsopolis commented on Alex Katsopolis' status._

"Stephanie?" She looked up to find Charles in front of her.

"Hey," she smiled putting down her phone. She stood up and pulled him into a hug. "It's good to see you."

He smiled at her. "Even though we saw each other yesterday?" he teased, pulling away from her.

Laughing, she nodded, "Yes, even though we did technically see each other yesterday."

The two made their way up to the front counter. They ordered their coffees and muffins before walking back to their claimed chairs.

Taking a bite of her muffin, Stephanie said, "So, I have to know, what happened? All I know is that after you ran out of my room, our teacher said that you 'fell' down the stairs and would be out for a week. I'm so sorry I told, but I was terrified and had no idea what to do-"

"Hey, Steph, it's okay." Charles was quick to reassure her. "I don't blame you at all. I know it must not have been easy for you to tell someone, but I'm glad you did. You probably ended up saving my life. So, thank you."

She sighed relieved. "I'm glad. So what happened?"

"Well after child protective services were called my dad was arrested. Apparently they talked to our teacher and she told them about the 'running into the door' incident from the week before. So, he was arrested and once I got out of the hospital I was taken to a foster home," he explained to her.

"Was it a safe foster home at least?" she asked.

Charles nodded. "It was. I was happy there. They adopted me a year later."

"That's great," Stephanie exclaimed. She sensed a 'but' coming on. "Did something else happen?"

Charles pursed his lips and said, "They died when I was nineteen. Car accident."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she told him. "My mom died that same way."

"Really?" she nodded.

"Drunk driver. I was five," she informed him.

"Do you remember her at all?" he asked.

"A little," she admitted, "but it was a lot easier when I was a kid. It's really hard now."

"My mother died in child birth," Charles said sadly. "I never even met her. Personally, I think that's why my dad treated me the way he did. I look so much like her. I think he just couldn't stand it."

Hearing the pain in his voice, Stephanie reached forward and placed her hand on his. "For what it's worth, I'm really glad I wasn't paying proper attention in the grocery store."

He smiled back at her. "Me too."

The two may have had their differences in the past, but that one assignment changed them both for the better. Personally, they were both very happy that teacher assigned them as partners. Who knows where they would be if she hadn't?

* * *

 _Now in Fuller House we have seen very little of Stephanie's sensitive side. We have really only scene it in one episode (I will not say why in case there are some fans out there who have yet to see the show) so I wanted to bring that out a little in this chapter. I also noticed that in the episode Silence is Not Golden Stephanie seems genuinely concerned about Charles, however he is then never mentioned again. I just feel like that worry and guilt may have stuck with her after all these years. Let me know if you agree or disagree!_

 _Also I do have another story underway. There will only be a handful of chapters in it similar to this one and it will pick up a few weeks after this one leaves off. The second story will be called Befriending the Past. Let me know if there's anything in particular you want to know about or see._

 _~Kaylee_


End file.
